Evaluation of the Effects of Irradiation of Peanut Grain by a Gamma-Ray Beam on Culture

The problems of agriculture in Senegal result in a low yield per hectare and poor seed quality contributing strongly to the decline in productivity. Mutagenesis by X- or Y-ray irradiation makes it possible to obtain genetic mutants necessary to improve production. It is in this context that we undertook this study to evaluate the effects induced on the cultivation of peanut seeds irradiated by X-rays at low doses applied in radiotherapy. X-ray irradiation of four (2, 3, 4, 5) lots of peanuts are performed with respectively 0.5, 1.5, 2 and 4 Gray using the cobalt 60 therapy device (Alcyon II). The seeding of the seeds and then the following-up of the crops during 35 days allowed us to study the parameters of germination, growth and yield. The results obtained after monitoring revealed that the irradiation did not have any significant impact on germination and would appear to temporarily inhibit the growth rate compared to the control batch. However, the decrease in weight of the harvested seeds can be explained by the absence of fertilizer during the cultivation.